


For There She Taught

by Tinybookworm



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teachers, But I just love these two, F/F, I'm sorry if this is shit i havent written in ages, I've been watching bad education lol, Lilith as the history teacher, Lilith is such a tease, We stan ambrose for being a supportive nephews, Zelda as an english literature teacher, Zelda needs to release some sexual tension, and i needed the practice, no magic, we stan prudence for simply not giving a fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 13:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22850764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinybookworm/pseuds/Tinybookworm
Summary: Both Lilith and Zelda are trying to win the annual bonus. Both Lilith and Zelda will do whatever it takes to win this bonus. Both Lilith and Zelda hate one another. All the students know these things.All the students have therefore placed a bet on which teacher asks out the other first.The entire student body knows hatred is the easiest way to hide a crush: it's textbook stuff after all.
Relationships: Zelda Spellman/Mary Wardwell | Madam Satan | Lilith
Comments: 11
Kudos: 113





	For There She Taught

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy! This isn't my best work but I thought I'd post it anyway.  


The final term of the school year. The morning smell of summer broke through the classroom windows. The taste of an _oh-so-close_ break sweetened the room. For Zelda Spellman, an academic year of schooling success- the annual bonus inheritance sights. The annual bonus the teachers strove to have. A prize for, essentially, the greatest teacher in the school. This year that bonus was hers, she could feel it in her bones. No other teacher had raised a class grade like she had. No other teacher worked so endlessly after the day ended. No other teacher, in all their years here, had taught Harvey Kinkle that “_no, he couldn’t draw his essay_ _instead”. _

Zelda smiled and leaned against her desk in triumph, folding her arms and letting out a humph. This was her favourite time of the day. 8:00am. She looked around her classroom, baking in the sun’s warmth, and inhaled the silence. No children squawking, no Blackwood moseying in on her class every period and most blissfully: no Miss Wardwell, distracting her by walking past her classroom windows every time the bell rang.

Miss Wardwell. The biggest competition for the annual bonus she had ever faced. The woman seemed to radiate an energy that screamed: _“i’m a super likeable teacher! So sarcastic and I totally understand teenage troubles! Voted the Student’s Coolest Teacher Award!”_

Yeah so, maybe the energy Zelda got off Lilith (what kind of sexy name is that anyway?) was completely randomised. And there wasn’t an award entitled that, because that would be a preposterous award. Zelda felt as though a teacher who thought she was better than this school: and rolled her eyes every time a student thought “_Cleopatra was totally badass when she stabbed Caesar” _deserved to struggle on a teacher’s salary. Lilith was an enigma, draped in a tight black dress, sky-high heels and a smooth, enticing red lip-

No. Zelda shook her head out of the daze. Her mind’s version of Lilith ran a frustrated hand through her curls and Zelda’s heart crumbled like sugar.

So Zelda was confused. She hated Lilith. She really did. But then she saw the way her eyes lit up when she spoke about History: the Fall of the Roman Empire, the French Revolution. Sabrina had come home one evening: a smile as wide as the ocean, dumped her bag on the table and unleashed a 17 and a half minute tale of her history class that day. How Lilith had teared up because_; “Aunt Zee, did you know that when Marie Antoinette was in prison during the Revolution, the mob murdered her friend (well supposed friend, Miss Wardwell said it was her lover), put her head on a spike and waved it outside Marie Antoinette’s window to make her suffering more painful. Did you know that Aunt Zee?”_

Hilda has turned a mossy shade of green at the little lesson. Zelda, on the other hand, let out a particularly loud snarl. How did Lilith have such an affect on her niece, nay, her students. Why did she have such a passion for telling heartfelt stories, most certainly not needed for the exam. Zelda thought of how Miss Wardwell’s figure strutted down the corridor each day- outside her window. A momentary catwalk as Zelda could watch her from start to end of her Classroom’s expanse.

Zelda imagined how wonderful it would be to have Lilith’s head on a spike, carried by a student mob, as Zelda herself claimed the bonus.

Zelda smiled at her desk as she remembered that evening. Looking up for a moment she saw Virginia Woolf, in poster form, staring back at her disapprovingly. The wide eyes of the writer stole Zelda’s breath, she looked forlorn and stuck in thought. Virginia Woolf simply knew, she had analysed every thought in Zelda’s head over the year and come to a simple conclusion.

Zelda scrunched her nose and stared back. She regained her looted breath and condemned the poster. “oh, shut up would you”

\--“But i haven’t said anything yet, Miss Spellman.” Zelda whipped her gaze at the classroom door. Lilith stood, leaning against her door with her arms folded and a smirk across her face.

Lilith averted her gaze, drew a hand through her hair and down her jawline as she played coy. Perhaps if she had been born earlier, Michelangelo would’ve carved her from marble. Zelda almost rolled her eyes at her own, pathetic thought. Maybe teaching English Literature had made her soppy.

“Who were you talking to?” Lilith asked as she stepped closer. Her dagger stabbed the floor with each step.

“No one”

“She’s dead. I don’t know if you were told. Actually many decades ago now, someone should’ve kept you updated.” Lilith nodded her head towards the wall where Virginia hung. Zelda amused her. She looked at the poster where she saw Virginia, looking like the cat who got the cream. Traitor.

Lilith took another step closer and leaned to whisper in Zelda’s ear.

“Also... Woolfie’s taken poster form there. So she definitely won’t be speaking anytime soon.”

Zelda snapped her head to face Lilith, her face awash with rage. She glanced down, seeing red. Oh no, she’d looked at Lilith’s lips- her head was scrambling she-

The school bell rang to signal the start of the day: or round one in a boxing match. The sound of a schoolchildren stampede filled the corridor.

“I just popped in to wish you luck.” Lilith smiled, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

“Luck?” Zelda asked. This game had gone on too long. Lilith’s enigmatic way of being, her biting on the fishing line. every. single. time.

“With the bonus announcement.” Lilith rolled her eyes. “C’mon Spellman, I thought I had real competition with you. I was very much enjoying the chase.”

Zelda blew air from her nose and smirked.

“Hardly a chase, Miss Wardwell. But I suppose you can hear it from Faustus that I’m the most deserving of that cash.”

Lilith grinned and it was frightening, exhilarating. Zelda almost melted with glee. Almost.

“That’s my girl,” Lilith winked. Zelda: murdered. It was a playground game they were playing here after all. “and may the best teacher win.” Lilith turned on her heel and left the room.

“She already has!” Zelda shouted after her.

“Are you okay Auntie?” Zelda turned to the side and saw her entire class staring at her. She had been too busy staring down Lilith to notice their arrival. Sabrina was at the forefront with wide, curious eyes and n accompanying glint. Zelda had never liked that glint, it told her: _“Aunt Zee, I’m probably going to interfere because I mean well.” _

“Yes dear, I’m fine- now take your seats! _Mrs Dalloway_ today, and time waits for neither her or our English class.”

The class went fairly smoothly. Zelda would glance up every now and then to see students talking, and then staring at her. Her brow furrowed. The Weird Sisters and Prudence giggled together as the latter yielded a crisp 10 dollar note. Nick was listening as Sabrina seemed to be spinning some sort of story- or plan as was her new hobby. Zelda tried to concentrate on what she was saying, but heard nothing other than _“Miss Wardwell”_ and _“date.”_

Zelda’s heart skipped a beat in protest. Miss Wardwell was going on a date? Sabrina would know, surely, she was in her office often enough. Her heart shook it’s head and burrowed into her stomach. _Well_, Zelda thought, _whomever it may be can have her. The woman’s a menace, I’m sure she’s an awful date. She’d go for a classic candlelit dinner, to peacock her cheekbones of course, and dress a little more inappropriate than she does in the classroom- if that’s possible._ Zelda thought about it, Lilith’s finger tucking her hair behind her ear as she’d laugh, bringing her hand down over her shoulder as she played with the hem of her shift, a low cut satin where her dates eyes would trial down-

Zelda coughed- with fury. Obviously. If that’s what Lilith would spend her bonus on- dates- then she definitely didn’t deserve it. The fire of hatred inside her burned. She looked back again over her class, still completely ignoring their work. Zelda saw more money exchanged- was there some sort of whip-round? Roz whispered to Theo who started, mouth-open, at the Spellman sister. Zelda frowned, other students passed money, stationary, anything.

“Alright.” Zelda said, her voice stone and cold. “Would anyone care to enlighten me as to what’s going on?”

Her class was quiet. The bell sounded, ringing through the pause and vibrating the tension inside Zelda. No body moved.

Right on her queue, Miss Wardwell walked by the classroom seemingly in slow motion. Her hair bounced, excited to be on _Lilith’s_ head, and her damned red lipstick stayed pristine. Zelda watched, Miss Wardwell checked her watch, looked up and caught Zelda’s eye through the glass. Lilith raised a simple eyebrow and smiled like she knew all of Zelda’s secrets, then disappeared out of view. Zelda was left glaring out the window, the glass reflecting a ghostly image of herself as if the sun were fading her out.

“You’re like Pavlov’s dog, Auntie”

The class erupted in laughter. Zelda transferred her icy glare to the speaker, Ambrose, swinging on his chair with a grin to his face and his hands behind his head. Walking over slowly, Zelda felt the class air turn chill. She closed her eyes and sighed slowly. “Ambrose, please, kindly tell me what in Hell is happening with you all.”

Ambrose stopped, looked at her an furrowed his brow. Zelda grew concerned, his eyes grew wider as Ambrose peered closer at his teacher’s face. He then pointed to the corner of his own mouth and said:

“I think you have a bit of drool, just their Aunt Zee. I wouldn’t worry it is to be expected-“

Zelda grunted as she smacked him over the head with her copy of Mrs Dalloway.

“Ow!” Ambrose sat up straight and rubbed his hair. “Bloody Hell Auntie,”

“_Mrs Dalloway_ is a very _weighty_ book in all sense of the word, Ambrose dear” Zelda snarled. “Now if nobody dare tell me what this is about then-“

“Miss Wardwell,” Prudence said, her tone screamed bored. Perhaps the cat had finished playing with it’s food. The girl took out a nail file from her bag and looked Zelda in the eye. “You want her. Sexually, romantically, whatever, you do. You’re going to deny it because that’s what you’ve done all year. Yet we’re the ones suffering: watching it play out, _‘oh I hate her’, ‘She’s insufferable’,_ when actually every time the bell goes: your eyes dart straight to the window because there she is. You then watch her, for at least a minute, basically eating her alive as we sit here waiting to be excused. She probably likes you too, hell- she’s always asking for stuff she probably doesn’t need. Oh look, _‘for there she was’._”

Did the Dalloway quote impress her? Yes. Was her stomach doing back flips because she had been explained to by a student how she felt about Lilith? Or was her stomach doing backflips because Prudence had implied Lilith was behind her? Jury’s still out on that one. Either way, her stomach was getting queasy from all this flipping.

Zelda stood, stunned as her class left one-by-one. Like Noah’s animals, her students abandoned an environment full of anger and destruction. Sabrina looked at her with pity, the glint still present: “I’ll see you for dinner, Aunt Zee.” Prudence sauntered past: “you ought to thank me,” and Ambrose, the last to leave, smiled kindly. “Ask her out, Auntie. What’s the worst that could happen? She’d hate you?”

Zelda glared at her nephew. “C’mon, I’ve got my money on you,” Ambrose took her hand, raising it to his lips and giving it a quick kiss before leaving the classroom.

Zelda stood dumbfounded in her classroom, and placed we hand to her forehead. As she opened her hand, a folded $10 fell onto the floor.

Oh. Oh. It makes sense now- the money exchanged by her students, a few glances at her. And Ambrose: “I’ve got my money on you.” The students were betting on who would... Zelda didn’t know, make a move, on the other first- her or Lilith. She should be furious. She was, but she didn’t know what play to make.

And Prudence’s last words “For there she was.” What did that mean-

—“Spellman. Do you have…” Lilith looked around unimpressed whilst playing with items on Zelda’s desk “…a pen?”

Zelda turned to her, astounded. Her mouth opened of its own accord as Lilith raided her things like a borrower, through her drawers and along the desks edge like a police dog. Lilith carried on speaking; taking Zelda’s silence as indifference, as was their norm, for her to take a simple pen.

“Zelda darling, you should really up your game. Faustus has just informed me my new way of teaching conflict, a little thing I like to call ‘class wars’, has really shot me to the top of this bonus scoreboard. Children cry if they’re on the loosing side of course, but I told them a lot more tragedy happened at Pearl Harbour than Billy shooting a paper plane in your face.” Lilith comes away from the desk, triumphant, and leans over the desk rolling a biro between her fingers.

“You’re a doll. I’ll buy you a brand new packet with my bonus.”

“Cut the crap, Lilith. You heard. You were there. Prudence saw you.”

Lilith’s fall from grace. Zelda watched as Lilith crashed into the desk as hurtling as a fall from heaven. She smiled wearily and Zelda. Was this a game? The Spellman wasn’t sure.

“Yes, I heard the girl.”

“They’ve been placing bets on us.” Zelda looked down at the floor. “Should I feel ashamed of my behaviour?”

Lilith looked at her and Zelda couldn’t read her face.

“They’re just kids. Give her a week’s detention. It means nothing. I just couldn’t stop thinking about that bonus.”

Lilith laughed then. It sounded like a twinkling telephone call- Zelda thought about picking up. Tearing the phone off at the root. Having Lilith all to herself.

“No, Zelda, you couldn’t stop thinking about me.” It was almost a purr. Lilith looked at her through her lashes and Zelda’s knees threatened to buckle. Don’t you dare, Zelda told her joints and they obeyed.

“I wasn’t lying though, Faustus did tell me I’d won the bonus. A lovely little amount. I’ll buy you another pen- oo!”

Zelda places her hands on Lilith’s hips and pushes her roughly into the desk.

“Shut up.” Zelda said, “I hate you,”

Her voice had no menace behind it though, no hatred. It was a whisper, barely carried, and Lilith wouldn’t have heard it if their faces weren’t so close. It was said softly, at a certain time of day, in summer where a recess was on. Zelda’s fingers stroked Lilith’s hips and she couldn’t look the other woman in the eye. She watched as her finger went round and round: a dance. Not dissimilar to the one she and Lilith had choreographed all year.

“No you don’t. You know as well as I do that it is a thousand pities to never say what one feels.”

Zelda rolled her eyes. Virginia fucking Woolf. Of course Lilith would quote her here, maybe this was part of the game.

Lilith places her hand on Zelda’s hip. Maybe it wasn’t.

Zelda rucked Lilith’s stray hair behind her ear. Maybe it was.

Zelda pulled Lilith in for a soft, gentle kiss. It definitely wasn’t.

“I really do need a pen, Lilith, if you wouldn’t mind.”

—————

Zelda sat with her newspaper over her face that night as Hilda prepared the dinner. A cigarette in one hand as her sister nattered about this and that. Sabrina burst in:

“Aunties!”

“In here Sabrina dear!” Hilda shouted. “How was your day at school?”

“Interesting,” Sabrina said smugly. Zelda pulled the newspaper down to glare at her niece. “I did create a plan to get one of my teachers to fall in love but it needn’t play out in the end.”

“Oh Sabrina, sweetie, you shouldn’t meddle in other people’s love lives. You wouldn’t like it now, would you?”

“Agreed.” Zelda said curtly, stubbing her cigarette out. Ambrose came and joined them at the table, a jam jar full of notes under his arm. Zelda started at him curiously- he simply smiled and ate a carrot from the table.

“I heard Miss Wardwell received the bonus Aunt Zee, are you okay?” Sabrina asked.

Zelda placed the newspaper down and collected herself.

“Yes, Sabrina, I am.” And she was. She didn’t feel sad or angry the bonus hadn’t gone into her bank account. She felt calm. And when she thought of Lilith she felt like a kite in a light breeze. But there was no way we was sharing that at the table.

“A little birdie told me Aunt Zee here won an even better prize.” Ambrose smiled. Zelda kicked him under the table and glared openly as he laughed.

“Oo! What’s that then Zelds?” Hilda snickered.

“None of your business sister. Ambrose is just causing mischief.”

“Yes I am.” Ambrose confirmed. “I got the class involved actually- and some others.” He slides the jar of money across the table in front of Zelda. “A whip round. Well, originally a bet. But then I heard you’d actually made a move so I got all the students who placed on a bet on you and Miss Wardwell shagging to cough up and- here we are.”

Zelda looked at the total written on the side- it had amounted to more than the annual bonus. She laughed like a twinkling wind chime as the summer breeze waved outside. Then, the sound of a telephone call and the end of a year-long rivalry.


End file.
